A top lawyer who believes race row royal Lady Susan Hussey questioned his own ethnicity has hit out at her "entirely inappropriate" remarks.
Former CPS chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal was a guest of the Welsh government at a Buckingham Palace reception when Lady Hussey asked him "so where are you from?"
He told the Mirror he did not reflect too much on the remarks, as he said it sadly "happens so frequently" until he learnt what happened to Ngozi Fulani.
"I realised then my name badge gave her all the information she needed. There was no need to ask me where I was from," he continued.
"My sense is that she wanted to dig a little bit deeper into my family's heritage, which of course is entirely inappropriate."
Mr Afzal had the honour of being the only lawyer to ever prosecute a case before the late Queen.
He told the Mirror that on Tuesday, at the reception on gender-based violence, Lady Hussey went up to him, looked at him and his name badge, looked at him again and then said "so where are you from?"
He continued: "I looked down at my name badge and I assumed she didn't want me to say Welsh government, so I said 'Manchester' and she goes 'Oh', and then moves to the next person."
Ngozi, who runs a black women's domestic abuse charity in London, said Hussey continued to pester her on her ethnicity, saying: "what nationality are you?", "where do your people come from?" and "what part of Africa are you from?"
Hussey, 83, was one of the late monarch's most trusted friends and is Prince William's godmother.
Following the Queen's death, she was kept on as an honorary member of the royal household but on Wednesday was forced to resign from her distinguished role as one of the ladies of the household.
Buckingham Palace described the remarks as “unacceptable and deeply regrettable” and Hussey has offered her “profound apologies."
In a statement, the Palace said officials had “reached out to Ngozi Fulani on this matter” but Ms Fulani claims no one has been in touch with her.
Mr Afzal says this does not set a good precedent for previous allegations made against members of the royal family.
He said: "My experience and Ngozi's experience do add credence to allegations that others made - I won't name people - about the perception of racism within the [Royal] family.
"They [the Royal Family] represent Britain at its best and all of us, including my family, dedicate ourselves to this country. The last thing you want is any allegation or perception that somehow they are treating people of colour differently."
Mr Afzal has prosecuted some of the highest profile cases in the country, advised on many others and led nationally on several legal topics including violence against women and girls, child sexual abuse and honour-based violence.
In 2005, he was awarded an OBE by the late Queen for his work.
He added: "I think that there were only two men there representing the subject. I thought maybe she [Lady Hussey] might want to talk a bit more about why I was one of the only men that were there or who I am.
"But she was not keen and she did not care."
Mr Afzal also said he walked out of the reception when he saw former and current Home Secretaries Priti Patel and Suella Braverman.
He said he was afraid he would get into a row and say something he regretted.
He said he was "very tempted" to go up to Suella and confront her on why, during the government's periods of office, the experience of women and violence has got worse.
"But because of the nature of the event, I didn't want to detract from the Queen Consort's intentions, so I was the first person to leave" he explained.
He also noted that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's wife Carrie Johnson and sister Rachel Johnson were there.
Mr Afzal believes the government should recognise "how offensive it was to her and consequently to others who work in this field."
He continued: "What happened to Ngozi will be felt by all of us, anybody who's a person of colour will exactly recognise what happened to her. It is such a shame really it is still happening in 2022."
